UN Steps Up Global Action against Cultural Racketeering as Part of Broader Crime Strategy
May 28, 2025
High-Level UN Forum, Co-Sponsored by the Antiquities Coalition, Advances Stronger Criminal Justice Responses to Cultural Racketeering
Last week, Ambassador Yasser Elnaggar, member of the Advisory Council of the Antiquities Coalition, joined leaders from government, law enforcement, and civil society for Combating Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property: Towards Stronger Criminal Justice Frameworks. This high-level convening, co-sponsored by the Antiquities Coalition, was part of the 34th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ)—the United Nations’ principal policy making body for combating crime and upholding the rule of law.
In addition to Ambassador Elnaggar, senior representatives spoke from Egypt, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, as well as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These included UNODC Director-General Ghada Waly and H.E. Amira Fahmy, Egypt’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The participation of such senior officials from across the world and key UN bodies demonstrated a broad international commitment to confronting cultural racketeering as a serious threat to global security, due to its financing of organized crime, armed conflict, and terrorism.
The May 22 event in Vienna, part of the CCPCJ’s annual meeting, marked another step forward in ongoing efforts to fight back against this illicit trade and better protect the multi-billion-dollar art market from criminal exploitation.
“The CCPCJ has a unique opportunity to make a difference on this issue,” remarked Ambassador Elnaggar. “Such action is especially needed because criminals, as always, are adapting. Today, we are confronting a broader and more complex landscape, in which cultural property is not just exploited by looters and traffickers—but for a wide range of crimes—including corruption, fraud and forgery, money laundering, sanctions and evasion, terrorist financing, and the abuse of offshore jurisdictions, shell companies, and trusts.”
As the international community looks to strengthen up its response, on behalf of the Antiquities Coalition, Ambassador Elnaggar urged the UN, CCPCJ, and all Member States to consider the following five concrete measures:
- Recognize Cultural Property Crimes as a Security Issue. The international community must continue to reinforce the link between cultural property crimes and global peace and security. UNODC’s acknowledgment of this connection is a critical and welcome development. Member States should lend their full backing.
- Promote a Whole-of-UN Approach. UNESCO’s work is key, but it cannot tackle this crisis alone. Given the growing ties between cultural racketeering, organized crime, and other financial crime, a coordinated response must include UNODC, its legal instruments, and operational arms, in close collaboration with cultural agencies.
- Utilize Existing Legal Instruments. Existing international conventions—particularly the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and Corruption—offer powerful yet underused frameworks for addressing cultural property crimes.
- Strengthen National Legal Frameworks. Governments too should recognize cultural racketeering as a serious crime, impose meaningful penalties, and integrate antiquities into anti-money laundering regimes. Relevant domestic laws on fraud, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion should be applied to the art market where appropriate.
- Sustain Global Momentum. Ongoing international engagement is essential. Upcoming forums such as the 11th Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (Doha, December 2025) and the 15th UN Crime Congress (Abu Dhabi, 2026) should build on this momentum to drive coordinated, long-term solutions.
In closing the forum, Ambassador Elnaggar summed up what is at stake: “This is not just about protecting our past—it is about securing our future. The tools already exist. What we need now is the political will to use them.”